POWERBALL WINNER PALMIRA NICOLO WINS $87.2 MILLION PRIZE

Powerball Winner Palmira Nicolo finally came forward on 18th June 2009 to claim her prize of $87.2 million, nearly four months after the 28th February Powerball results were announced. She walked into the Lottery Headquarters in Middletown, Dauphine Country, near Harrisburg with her winning Powerball ticket.

Nicolo is 57 years old and is from Wyndmoor, Montgomery County and is one of two winners of the 28th February Powerball jackpot of $174.4 million.

QUIETLY RETIRED

Palmira has been teaching for 34 years and was teaching Italian at Cherry Hill High School West until she suddenly decided she wanted to retire. It was on 24th March that she walked into Principal Joseph Meloche’s office and said she was going to retire on a monthly salary of $4,482.47 per month.

Principal Meloche said Nicolo’s leaving was a sad loss to the school, “Pam Nicolo is one of the nicest, most gifted teachers I have ever worked with,” he said, “She connected with every child. Every child wanted to be in her class.” Meloche went on to say, “She is an institution at the school and it couldn’t have happened to a better person.”

He said that nobody at the school had a clue that Nicolo had won the Powerball lottery and added, “She had a great career and was a wonderful woman.”

POWERBALL WINNER PALMIRA NICOLO’S WINNING TICKET

Nicolo bought her ticket at the Plymouth Meeting Mall Customer Service Center, 500 Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County. The Powerball results for 28th February 2009 were 3, 16, 20, 42, 58, with the red Powerball of 7. The Mall will receive a cheque of $100,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Nicolo has opted to take the cash payout of $46,629,112.16, this is before the deduction of State and Federal taxes. As she declined to be present at the cheque presentation or any public event to celebrate her win, there is no indication of how she wants to spend her Powerball prize. Lottery Headquarters did say that Nicolo told them that she was a regular lottery player and would continue to support it as she believes, “the Lottery is doing a good thing supporting senior programmes and services.”

BRINGING WEALTH BACK TO THE AREA

The press tried really hard to contact Palmira Nicolo to try and get some comment, but to no avail. They did manage to reach one of her neighbours, Tom Hanson, who lives opposite her. They both live in a nice neighbourhood which was built on land once owned by investment banker Edward T. Stotesbury.

Tom Hanson commented that, “Wealth has returned to the neighbourhood.” He said that Nicolo had lived in her house for around twenty years, with her husband and two grown up daughters. “They are a close family.”